Restaurant talk: Best brunch, new chef, Italian food

Who has the best brunch in Dallas? The Huffington Post picked the best brunch spots in 14 U.S. cities, and Smoke made the cut.

Kitchen LTO has a new chef. Anastasia Quiñones, who previously worked at Komali, Victor Tango’s and Alma, will be cooking modern Mexican starting June 2. Chef Blythe Beck is still in the kitchen until May 31.

St. Rocco, Phil Romano’s own incubator restaurant at Trinity Groves, is hiring managers and sous chefs. That means the Italian restaurant, planned since the very beginning of Trinity Groves, is likely to open soon.